The Striking Price

Playing Facebook With Puts

Six days after the stock begins trading, options on it will be listed. Here's what to do.

Facebook's initial public stock offering will be hot. Its bearish put options probably will be hotter.

Facebook announced Wednesday that it expects to sell $5 billion worth of stock on an as yet unidentified exchange. The timing of the IPO isn't yet known, and neither is the ultimate price. But that price is likely to be high enough to keep the total of shares offered relatively low. (For more on the offering, see "At Long Last,...